Connectors are generally used of an elongate shape formed of two parts, a male part and a female part, each part being connected to one of the elements to be joined together.
There are always drawbacks of a mechanical or thermal kind with this type of connector. In fact, when electric connections are formed by such connectors in equipment which is intended to be airborne, for example in aeronautics, they are often subjected to very severe mechanical or thermal conditions which may damage them. Moreover, these connectors always have a non zero insertion and disinsertion force, and the repeated coupling and uncoupling operations may degrade their mechanical or electrical properties.
Furthermore, it is known to use shape memory connectors formed by a preformed split socket about which is slid a heat-shrinkable ring. This type of connector is particularly well adapted to the connection of pin circuits. Each pin is inserted in such a socket and by heating (or cooling) the restraining force of the ring becomes greater than the return force of the socket, the pins then being nipped with a high contact pressure.
However, when it is a question of connecting a flat flexible cable to another flat flexible cable or to a printed circuit or connecting two printed circuits together, this type of connection has the drawback of being cumbersome and ill-adapted to these applications, for the electric connections are not made by pins but by wires or tracks.